Prime Minister Mark Carney

Elbows down, again, as Canada backs away from tariffs on U.S. goods

Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum

OTTAWA — Jaws hit the floor in unison with Mark Carney’s collapsing elbows last month when the prime minister abruptly ended retaliatory tariffs on American goods, effective Sept. 1, and declared that Canada currently enjoys “the best deal in the world” with the United States.

In a stark about face from Carney’s ‘elbows up’ election campaign rhetoric, the prime minister announced that Canada would stop imposing tariffs on U.S. goods compliant with the Canada U.S. Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) on trade. The move, Carney said, would “align” with the U.S.

The Trump administration stopped collecting tariffs on CUSMA-compliant goods from Canada on March 7 — three days after imposing across-the-board tariffs of 25 % (most goods) and 10 % (energy and potash) on March 4.

Canada’s Liberal government never followed suit and left in place a broad range of countervailing tariffs on CUSMA-compliant products originating in the U.S. Critics pointed out that these Canadian tariffs only punished Canadian consumers and made food more expensive at the grocery store where a broad range of items were burdened with the new charges.

“In essence, Canada has now quietly admitted what many suspected: counter-tariffs were being applied to goods that were technically CUSMA-exempt. Canadians paid higher prices for months on everyday staples such as orange juice, peanut butter, coffee, tea and even wine — products that, under the rules of the trade agreement, should never have faced tariffs in the first place,” Dalhousie University Food Professor Sylvain Charlebois wrote in a recent column.

“The uncomfortable truth is that consumers bore the cost of a policy that never should have existed. Few Canadians were aware of it, but they certainly felt it in their wallets. The rollback is not just an economic correction — it is also a political admission of error.”
Sectoral tariffs remain in place on steel, aluminum and autos on both sides of the border.

Carney’s climbdown came days after the U.S. ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, complained loudly in media interviews with podcaster Jasmin Laine and others about Canada’s continued targeting of CUSMA-compliant goods.

The prime minister’s shift had online pundits shaking their heads. “The pivot from ‘Elbows Up’ to ‘We have the best deal out of any country in the world’ IS THE DEFINITION OF GASLIGHTING. The betrayal Liberal voters must feel …” said Canadian influencer Mario Zelaya in a post on X.

Others have observed that Carney’s “best deal” admission undermines Canada’s negotiating position with the U.S. Why would the U.S. make any concessions if we already have the best deal?

The Carney government has blown through a number of deadlines trying to negotiate some sort of new trade arrangement with the U.S. after Trump went on a tariffing spree this year. There’s still no deal — just the status quo that is now, apparently, the best deal.